Sen. Diamond releases statement on the sentencing of Julio Carrillo, convicted of depraved indifference murder in the death of Marissa Kennedy

AUGUSTA – At a hearing at the Waldo County Judicial Center in Belfast on Wednesday, Superior Court Justice Robert Murray sentenced Julio Carrillo of Stockton Springs to 55 years in prison. Carrillo, 52, pleaded guilty to depraved indifference murder in the February 2018 death of his 10-year-old stepdaughter, Marissa Kennedy. Marissa’s mother, Sharon Carrillo, also is facing charges related to Marissa’s death in a separate, ongoing proceeding.

In response to the sentencing, Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, released the following statement:

“Our courts have once again done their job, and brought justice to a child murderer. I applaud Justice Murray for his decision today. However, this case should never have had to go to the courts in the first place. The state needs to do a better job protecting children, and the legislature needs to take decisive action to fix our broken child protection system. We can’t simply pass the buck to DHHS and expect them to fix the problem. That has never worked before and it won’t work now.”